1. Technical Field
The method and apparatus of the present invention relate generally to a painting method and apparatus. More specifically, they relate to a method and apparatus of preventing unwanted paint from adhering to an adjacent wall or trim piece during the painting of a surface. The apparatus employs a conventional roller "sock" having a nap for releasable retension of paint. The roller is placed into a container having a quantity of paint therein in the conventional manner such that the paint is temporarily absorbed into the sock nap. The roller sock is then placed against the surface to be painted and the rolled theron such that a quantity of apint is transferred thereto.
Currently, the most common method of preventing the application of paint on a surface adjacent the painted wall is to apply a quantity of tape thereto such that any paint inadvertently transfered thereon may be easily removed simply by removing the tape. Installation of the protective tape is clearly quite a time-consuming process. Additionally, the protection afforded by such a procedure is only as good as the precision with which the protective tape is applied to the surface to be protected. Consequently, it is highly desirable to provide an apparatus which to a great extent could automate the protective procedure, allowing walls to be painted up to a corner with much greater ease and speed.
The present invention adds a protective edge guard adjacent the end of the roller and perpendicular thereto. The edge guard is placed against the adjacent wall surface, thereby acting as a barrier to the application of any paint to this adjacent surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As mentioned above, one of the primary prior art methods for protecting a surface adjacent a painted wall is to cover the surface to be protected with a layer of tape. After the desired surface is painted, the protective tape would simply be removed, thereby removing any paint which inadvertently was transferred to this protective tape. In addition to this highly manpower-intensive method, several prior art devices have been developed to simplify this protective procedure. One such example is illustrated in the Deck patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,269.
Deck discloses a paint roller apparatus having a cover plate which is adapted to occupy a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the roller which is supported by a "main handle". The cover plate is supported on a handle adapted to slide up and down the shaft of the main handle. The shaft of the main handle is constructed such that when the handle supporting the cover plate is slid downwardly, rotation of the cover plate support handle is urged. Thus, there is both a downward and rotational movement of the cover plate away from the paint roller. While the Deck apparatus clearly attempts to provide some degree of assistance in preventing the unwanted application of paint to an adjacent surface, there are several limitations to the apparatus. First, when the cover plate is in the working position, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the roller, there is no means for providing rotation of the edge guard. Thus, it appears that the roller handle would need to be maintained in constant angle relative to the painted wall surface in order to maintain proper contact between the wall and the edge guard. This limitation makes it difficult to accommodate bumps or other uneven distributions in the wall surface or corner as the roller is moved along the painted surface. Therefore, any encounter with a bump or other undulation in the surface is likely to leave a discontinuity in the painted surface, known in the art as "holidays". Additionally, movement of the paint shield relative to the roller, instead of moving the roller relative to the paint shield, increases the likelihood that the wall-contacting edge of the paint shield would encounter the tip of the roller when being moved into the working position. If such contact were made between the edge of the shield and the roller, paint would be transferred to the guard edge or bristles and possibly into the protected corner.
Another prior art example of a paint roller guard apparatus is illustrated in Glacken, U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,022. Glacken discloses a guide apparatus which is adapted to be releasably secured to the roller support shaft in a recess provided in one end of the roller. The design of the Glacken apparatus calls for the removal and reinstallation of the guide plate each time the roller sock is filled with paint. Additionally, the snap fit of the edge guard does not provide for any spring biasing movement of the guard during the painting operation.
Anderson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,180, provides an apparatus similar to the Glacken device wherein an edge guard is snap fit onto the roller support shaft. The edge guard is provided with an off-center mounting so that it may be rotated out of position when the roller is charged with paint.
None of the prior art devices offers a paint edge guard adapted for both pivotal and rotational movement in the working embodiment to accommodate surface irregularities and placement angles during use.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a paint roller guard apparatus having a guard which is both pivotally and rotatably mounted for maximum flexibility in adapting to undulations in the paint surface contour during the painting procedure.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a paint roller guard apparatus having a paint roller which is adapted to be pivotally mounted relative to the paint guard so as to minimize the possibility of placing paint on the protective edge of the guard shield.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a paint guard shield which is spring biased to a neutral position and which may be deflected out of the neutral position during painting but which will return to the neutral position upon release of pressure on the paint handle.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a paint roller guard apparatus having a guard shield which is generally rectangularly shaped wherein the longer axis may be placed in the general direction of movement of the paint roller so as to minimize the possibility of the guard rolling during the painting operation.
A further objective is to provide a paint roller guard apparatus wherein the movement of the roller away from the guard shield may be effected by either of two embodiments. In a first embodiment, by pivotal rotation of the roller itself. In an alternative embodiment by separating the handle wherein one handle portion comprises the means for supporting the guard shield with the remaining handle portion comprising the means for supporting the paint roller.